I'm Pretty Sure I'm In Another Dimension
by jirihime
Summary: Life was continuing normally for Umibozu's family-Kamui constantly got into fights with school gangs, Kagura often got in trouble with a male classmate, and his kids never stopped bickering. Yup, life was normal. But it all changed when Kagura started acting strangely, claiming that Kamui wanted to kill her and the enemy was going to assassinate the shogun.
1. Chapter 1

"Dad, Kagura's been in the bathroom for an hour!" Kamui complained as he was standing outside the bathroom door, foot tapping incessantly.

"Kagura, let your brother use the bathroom!" Umibozu shouted from the kitchen as he was preparing his kids' _bento_. Being a widowed father was tough, especially when you had two monsters as kids. Umibozu heaved a giant sigh as he once again had to endure a morning of screams and spats between his children. He only found relief at the fact that no doors and bones had been broken, yet.

"Kagura, you've been in there for an hour!" Kamui continued his pestering.

"So?" She retorted from behind the door.

"Get out of there! I have school!"

"So do I!"

It was the same scene from yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that-Kagura hogging the bathroom when it was a school day. This was the very reason Kamui demanded to have his own stuff, because he was tired of fighting over the remote control, the recliner, the front seat, and even the last Oreo with his sister. And now, he wanted his own bathroom.

"Get out of there!"

"Go sit in the sink!"

Kagura hadn't realized that an hour had gone by since she jumped in the tub. She simply wanted to be squeaky clean. And play with her hair with the suds. And watch her fingers go wrinkly from being in the water too long. And straighten her bangs with a flat iron. And look her extra best because a guy in her class was always teasing her, calling her names like ugly, stupid, and Ms. Piggy. But remembering how angry Kamui gets sometimes, Kagura put on her school uniform and wrapped up her beauty routine to prevent payback from her older brother. Yesterday, it was a toy cockroach he sneaked into her school bag.

"Dad, Kagura's still in the bathroom!"

Umibozu also wanted to prevent further damage. He left the kitchen and stood outside the bathroom door. "Kagura, your brother's going to be late. Aren't you finished yet?"

A few seconds later, the father and son took in the sound of hasty shuffling of the door knob, and out came a disheveled and out of breath Kagura. Her breath came in broken gasps, her left hair bun was undone, skin covered in grime, and clothes-which they'd never seen before-soiled with dirt. Blood was streaming from her head. Seeing Kamui made her jump and get into a defensive stance.

"Kagura, what happened?" Umibozu panicked.

"Poppy!" Her eyes were begging for help. "Where am I? Where's Gin-chan?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Did you hit your head? Who's Gin-chan?" Umibozu asked, his voice urgent yet placating.

Seeing the concern on his father's face, Kagura's eyes welled up with tears. "Kamui, he..." Her eyes darted towards her brother, who only looked puzzled, and she slowly inched towards the safety of her father's side.

Umibozu noticed Kagura's cautious behavior towards her brother and immediately shot an accusing stare at his son. "Kamui!"

Wearing his deceptively innocent face, Kamui disputed the accusation. "Don't look at me like that, baldy. I didn't do anything," he calmly voiced. "I was just standing here."

He was right. Both of them were just standing by the door, and his kids' quarrel was the usual back and forth. Kagura wasn't one to let her brother have the last word (and that's where the problem lied, because Kamui wasn't either), so how Kagura came to this state of distress was beyond him. He turned to his daughter. "Kagura, what happened to you?"

Clutching her father's shirt, Kagura gasped. "Gin-chan. Gin-chan went to fight his old friend. And they're going to kill So-chan. We have to find them, Poppy. Hurry!"

Umibozu knew Kagura wasn't capable of creating a lie this elaborate. Considering the news these days included alien invasions and giant roaches, he decided that anything was possible. "Kamui, hand me my phone, keys, and wallet," Umibozu ordered as he carried Kagura in his arms.

Kamui did what he was told and ran to his father's bedroom.

"Now, hurry and get ready for school."

"But..."

"Now! I'll take Kagura to the hospital."

In the months following his wife's death, Umibozu was haunted by a disquieting question: Did the wrong parent die? That was years ago. He asked himself that now. Kagura's suffering reminded him of his parental failures. If he died instead of Kouka, maybe Kamui would have never run away. Maybe Kagura wouldn't have to find home in another family. Yet, he couldn't find it in him to talk about their mother, because he knew Kamui blamed him for his mother's death. How should he respond when they asked about her? How should he discipline his kids when they were being rebellious? Would Kouka be able to prevent every catastrophe he caused? These thoughts left a knot in his chest. There was no guidebook on how to be both Poppy and Mommy.

"Poppy, I don't understand what's going on," Kagura muttered.

Umibozu held Kagura tighter as he carried her to his car. "We'll figure it out."

"Kamui was...he was about to kick my head."

The knot in his chest tightened.

Unsure what to do, Kamui stared blankly at them as his father stepped out the front door. Sure, his little sister was a pain in the neck, but he'd beat up anyone who dared hurt her. But something in her eyes perturbed him. Determination? Hostility? No, it was more than that. It was fear. An instinctual fear. Like a prey frozen in the moments before instant death. And that fear was directed towards him. Shouldn't he, a man who broke people's arms just to hear the sound they make, take pleasure in instilling fear in others? But all that was there was a pang of...something in his chest for making his little sister fear for her life.


End file.
